BACOLOD City – Even in the middle of the battle against the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, authorities here are already preparing for the emergence of dengue and other diseases related to the rainy season.
City Administrator Em Ang recently conducted a meeting with personnel of the City Health Office (CHO) and leaders of several hospitals in this city to ensure that rainy season-related illnesses would not add to the problem of the metro’s healthcare system, which has already taken a beating from the onslaught of COVID-19.
“We have discussed measures on how to curb dengue, leptospirosis, waterborne diseases, and measles, even as we continue to beat COVID-19,” Ang said.
During the meeting, Dr. Julius Drilon, chief of the Corazon Locsin Montelibano Memorial Regional Hospital (CLMMRH), said he fears for a potential surge in dengue cases as the onset of the rainy season is a vulnerable period for dengue infection.
Drilon also discussed plans for mass COVID-19 testing, which will immediately take effect when the CLMMRH biosafety lab becomes operational this month.
On his part, Executive Assistant Jomarie Vargas , cluster head of the City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office(CDRRMO), said that the city has included in its annual budget the for the dengue prevention .
The CHO recently announced it recorded a decrease in dengue cases during the first months of 2020.
From the beginning of the year through May 16, CHO reported 155 total dengue fever cases, with zero death.
This is 68 percent lower compared to the 480 cases with one death for the same period in 2019.
Dr. Grace Tan, head of the CHO Environment Sanitation Division, attributed the lower number of cases to fewer rains in the last quarter of 2019 and first quarter of 2020.
She said rainy days are usually considered the season for dengue infections since mosquitoes breed in areas with stagnant water.
In August last year, the city government launched an “all-out war” against dengue after the Department of Health declared a national dengue epidemic.
That time, Bacolod recorded 1,325 dengue cases, including six deaths, from Jan. 1 to Aug. 17, marking an increase of 106 percent compared to the same period in 2018./PN
